Thursday, March 25, 2010

To Have and to Hold [trailer] + Beatroot Bodega

I am beyond excited for the new documentary, To Have and To Hold, which chronicles the sickness we call vinyl collecting. Unlike a lot of movies about digging, which I find can be a bit boring (I can only watch someone digging through a crate for so long..), it seems like To Have And To Hold explores some of the deeper reasons of why we are all so eternally addicted.

I was just having a conversation about this with a good friend. ... Albums are like time machines. Records transport us to different times in our lives. They remind us of where we were when we first heard a song, where we were when we found that particular record, who we were with, what we were doing. Files will never be able to replicate this experience.

Each mythical disc is encoded with the dna of some moment that has passed. Records are vessels for conveying ideas, thoughts, emotions, time and place. They go far beyond mere sentimentality, but they are that too.

The ritual of listening to a record is transformative. A heady alchemy is evoked from the very first rotation. A completely unscientific mixture builds. Cover art and liner notes draw us in, enhancing the mood. Then the music takes over, the sonic warmth floating effortlessly off the grooves.

Throw on a Public Enemy record and you can almost imagine what it's like to be 12 again.This is the power of listening to a record, and the reason why it remains important to us, to release vinyl every chance we get.

There is also the thrill of the hunt, but I'll save that for a future entry.

Join us at Hawaii's version of Los Angeles' Beat Swapmeet. The Beatroot Bodega, organized by Kavet the Catalyst, is this Saturday, March, 25, at Fresh Cafe.